Author's Note: I know it is not Christmas anymore but when I got the idea it was still Christmas. I think this chapter shows how sad they are and how much they wish Erin back. I hope you enjoy it! You are welcome to make suggestions and ideas. How do you like the story so far? Thanks for the reviews. I'm looking forward to more ;)
Silently, the snowflakes fell out of the clouds and tumbled to the ground. It was a happy dance of crystals that enveloped the world under a soft, white blanket. So peaceful and quiet.
Zoey flattened her stubby nose against the living room window and watched the falling flakes. Last year, when the first snow fell, she had sat here too. Together with mommy. They laughed, pointed to individual snowflakes, and imagined what they would sing or shout on their journey to Earth. As Zoey closed her eyes, she thought she could feel the presence of her mother, hear her laughter, her voice and she could remember the words. For a moment the girl smiled, but then a tear escaped the corner of her eye. At first only a single tear, which were finally followed by more. Mommy. It seemed so long ago. The child's heart ached as she missed her mother so much. Christmas without mommy was simply unimaginable.
Jay went to great lengths to uphold the family tradition. That included baking cookies, decorating the Christmas tree, Christmas Eve at Hank Voight's house, and meeting Will, Natalie and Owen. But it didn't help. The family was no longer complete. It was missing a piece - more precisely Erin was missing.
Zach looked at his presents under the decorated Christmas tree. It felt weird, even wrong. They could not celebrate without mom.
Zoey, who was sitting on the window sill, looked at her presents very critically. "Mommy does not fit in there." she stated. She had wished for Santa Claus to bring her mommy back. To make sure that Santa received her letter, she had written several wish lists to him with the help of Kim. Jay, who got Zoey's order to bring the letters to Santa Claus, read each letter. It almost broke his heart. Each letter was the same…
Dear Santa,
I wish my mommy back because I miss her terribly. Daddy misses Mommy too much and has been sad for a long time, as well as Zach. Please dear Santa brings Mommy to us! We want to be happy again. I do not want a baby dog. You can also keep the dollhouse. All we want is Mommy!
With love, Zoey.
"Mom is dead, Zoey. Understand that finally." Zach said annoyed.
"But Santa has brought me everything I want so far." she explained.
"There is n…" Zach started to say when Jay interrupted him," Zoey. Santa Claus cannot bring back dead people. He can fulfill many wishes, but in this case he is powerless."
Zoey thought about that for a moment before she sat between her daddy and brother. She snuggled up to Jay and cried softly, "I miss Mommy."
Jay stroked Zoey's narrow back monotonously. "I know - princess. I miss her too." Jay said softly and pressed a small kiss on her forehead. Silently they watched the big presents under the shining Christmas tree. Beside it on the side table was a picture of Erin blinking at the camera, laughing. A small candle was burning in front of the picture.
-Flashback-
Hand in hand, they strolled through the park. Earlier that night, Jay had taken his girlfriend out to dinner in a fancy restaurant. It was her first free night since Baby Zach was born. The last 10 weeks have been sleepless and exhausting.
Jay suddenly knelt in front of her and took out the little box with his mother's ring, "Erin, you are the best thing that has happened to me in my life. The first time I saw you, I knew that I wanted to marry you. You are the love of my life. There are so many things I love about you. I want to ask you, Erin Lindsay, will you marry me?"
"Jay. I do not know what to say." Erin looked at him overwhelmed.
"Say yes." Jay smiled.
"Yes. Of course. Jay I love you." Erin said, moved to tears.
"I love you too." Jay said, slipping the ring on her finger and kissing her lips.
-End of the Flashback-
Later Zoey squatted down and tore open her presents. She had phases when she missed her mom a lot, but then she had phases where she was cheerful.
"Do not you want to open your presents?" Jay asked his son.
"To see what you bought? No thanks." Zach muttered.
"You might not believe it, but mom has bought most of your gifts. She always was a very early Christmas shopper."
"Really?" Zach asked excited.
"Yes. Almost all the presents under this tree are from mom." Jay said and took a deep breath, "I know you miss her - we all miss her very much. But try not to let your frustration out on Zoey. She is 4 years old. She doesn't understand it all that well yet."
"Okay, I'll try." Zach said and knelt down next to his sister to unpack the presents. Both were happy with their gifts, but still felt something was missing.
Today was New Year's Eve and everyone was either celebrating or had come up with something exciting. But Zach and Zoey were pissed off. Their dad had just dropped them off at Grandpa Hank. Aunt Natalie gave birth to a son this morning and there were complications, which is why Jay wanted to support his brother.
Zach and Zoey wanted to cry inrage because this would be the first New Year's Eve without mom and dad.
"It's totally unfair." Zoey moaned, "The baby is more important."
"The baby would sleep through New Year's anyway. But what about us?" Zach scolded.
"Aunt Natalie and Uncle Will really need your dad's support at the hospital. The baby is sick and needs surgery today." Hank explained. "Cheer up. We will have a great New Year's Eve party, huh?"
"Stupid." Zach muttered. "Everyone is celebrating. Only we are bored to death."
"We sit around here completely alone," Zoey said.
"Alone? What about me?" Hank asked offended, "Am I nobody? We can celebrate the New Year in a different and exciting way and some place else entirely."
"How?" Zoey asked curiously.
Hank grinned, "I have an idea. Get an atlas!"
And while Zach fumbled for the book, Hank turned on the computer.
"On the Internet," he said, grinning even more, "we'll find all the places where it will be midnight at different times and the New Year is starting."
Before Zoey and Zach knew it, Grandpa Hank typed away on the keyboard a A picture appeared.
"This is a webcam image of London." Hank said proudly. "It shows you what it's like right now. And you see the clock at the top of the picture? It's 11.40pm. In twenty minutes the New Year begins. Later we will travel to Portugal, then we will see how the people of Brazil celebrate, and then ..."
Zach and Zoey forgot to close their mouths in amazement. How did their grandpa know all this?
Before they could even ask, Hank shouted, "Hurry! We can now welcome the New Year in London!"
"This is so great!" Zach shouted. "This way we celebrate New Year's Eve all day - every time in a different country."
"Right." Hank said, smiling, "We''ll be sitting comfortably at home looking at the real pictures on the webcams." He grinned again and picked up the phone. "And to make sure we don't starve to death, we'll order the biggest pizza of our lives, okay?"
"Alright!" Zach and Zoey shouted. Fascinated, the three of them celebrated New Year's Eve all day long. Each time they would clink glasses of orange juice and shout, "Happy New Year!"
Later that evening, Zach and Zoey lay on the sofa and slept. The whole party tired them out.
Jay came by an hour before midnight. Of course he wants to spend the New Year's Eve with his children.
"Do you want a beer?" Hank asked. Jay nodded and so the elder handed him a bottle. They sat down in the kitchen so they wouldn't disturb the kids. Jay took a piece of the cold pizza.
"How is the baby?" Hank asked curiously.
"Better, but the little man is not out of the woods yet. Will and Nat are completely exhausted."
"Let's hope for the best."
"Your house looks so much better better." Jay chuckled. Everywhere he looked were colorful confetti or streamers.
"We celebrated New Year's Eve." Hank laughed.
"Already?" Jay asked with a grin.
"Yeah. We've been to London, Portugal and Brazil." Hank laughed and pointed at the computer.
"You seem to have had a lot of fun. Another 15 minutes and we're ringing in the new year." Jay grinned and went to the living room. He gently woke up his kids.
"Daddy?" Zoey mumbled wearily, putting her small arms around her daddy's neck.
"Hey honey. We will celebrate the New Year soon ." Jay whispered in her ear.
"Again?" She murmured softly.
"Yes, only this time it's our turn."
"Yeah!" Zoey rejoiced, pulling away from the hug and jumping around on the sofa. Jay smiled slightly sadly. Zoey really looked like a small version of Erin. He would give anything for Erin to be back with them. She was just missing everywhere. Especially for Zoey. At some point, time would come for Zoey to need tips from her mom.
The countdown started. Hank, Jay, Zach and Zoey gathered in the living room. They counted out down the seconds out loud.
"Three, two, one... Happy New Year!" They rejoiced. Jay and Hank patted each other on the shoulder. Jay then pulled his son in for a hug and he hugged his little daughter and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. Hank did the same.
"I have a rocket set." Hank said and got the packaging. Together they went out on the snowy street. The neighbors were already busy shooting the fireworks into the air
"I want to light it." Zach said and took the lighter from Hank hand. Hank taught his grandson how to do it right. Jay watched them. He had Zoey in his arms. They stood a bit to the side because Zoey was a bit scared. She didn't like the rockets and the loud noises, so she covered her ears with her hands.